On June 20th 2023, a dozen international students from the Master of Global Management Program of Tongji SEM visited Danone China Open Science Research Centre(OSRC) led by Professor WANG Hongwei, Deputy Dean of TongjI SEM and Ms. Grace SHOU, Director of the International Cooperation and Accreditation Office of the school. The students and faculty had an in-depth exchange and discussion on how companies can achieve ESG “double carbon” driven sustainable development. James Ng, Vice President of Sustainability and General Manager of Social Business of Danone Greater China, shared the cutting-edge ESG practices from the corporate’s perspective. In addition, the two parties had a preliminary exchange on further deepening school-enterprise cooperation and  jointly developing sustainability-related courses.

Students and faculty from Tongji University visited Danone China OSRC

Mr. Ng introduce an overview of Danone Group, its business in Greater China and the position of the OSRC, and focused on Danone’s sustainable development philosophy in ESG practice experience. Danone has been exploring on ESG since a long time ago, aiming to achieve net zero emission across the value chain by 2050. He pointed out that Danone has been focusing on four fields – climate change, water resources, circular economy and renewable agriculture – to protect the health of the planet. ESG is a large and complex topic that requires companies to work together with employees, supply chain partners, industry, government and universities to promote the initiative framework of “Protect the Earth, Share the Health”.

James Ng shares ESG concepts and practices

During the Q&A session, students participated actively and learned a lot. Professor DU Huanzheng from the College of Environmental Science and Engineering of Tongji University shared the topic of the current situation of plastic recycling in China and future technological trends. In addition, the students and teachers visited Danone OSRC and listened carefully to the latest research findings on breast milk nutrition by experts from Danone’s Science and Health Department, and learned about Danone’s digital platform for innovation, nutrition and health.

The staff introduces Danone China OSRC to students and faculty from Tongji

The students said that the visit to Danone OSRC was an enriching experience and that it was inspiring to see how Danone effectively uses its R&D capabilities to promote sustainability. Through the visit, they learnt that companies need to practice sustainability beyond developing a theoretical ESG framework and have clear long-term goals, such as Danone’s well-designed plan to become carbon neutral by 2050. They also realized that a responsible company needs to more than focus just on profits, but also engages in environmental and social aspects.

The deep integration with enterprises to nurture talents is one of the philosophies and characteristics of the MGM program at Tongji University. In order to cultivate comprehensive and inter-disciplinary talents with practical business skills, the MGM program organizes visits and study tours to enterprises in different industries, so that students can get a direct insight into the frontline of enterprise management and practice. At the same time, understanding the operation and market culture of domestic enterprises also helps overseas students to integrate with the domestic job market and builds a strong platform for their future career.

The Master of Global Management (MGM) program is an English-taught full-time academic degree program for international students. It aims to develop international talents with interest in both international management and doing business in China, and committed to taking on management leadership roles in cross-cultural work environments. The program focuses on the development of students’ entrepreneurial mindset, the integration of different cultures, and the creation of an outstanding learning and living environment. The program was ranked 21st in the world in Financial Times Top 100 Global Management Masters 2022 list and was ranked in the top 10 globally for program satisfaction with a score of 9.42.

The Danone OSRC was inaugurated in Shanghai on July 16, 2020. As one of Danone’s most important strategic investments in China, the OSRC brings together the public sector, healthcare institutions, universities, business partners and consumers to build an open, collaborative and inclusive innovation ecosystem to further support the implementation of the “Health China 2030” action plan.